Enzo Maresca's tenure as Manchester City manager has taken a sharp turn for the worse. What began as a dream start — seven consecutive Premier League victories — has collapsed into a run of three straight defeats, leaving City six points adrift of Arsenal heading into the international break.

The latest blow came at the City Ground, where a ferocious Nottingham Forest side dismantled City 3-1, with home supporters serenading Maresca's side with chants of "can we play you every week?" as the final whistle approached.

Individual errors cost City again

Defensive frailty has haunted City's recent form. Josko Gvardiol surrendered possession in the sixth minute, allowing Jair Cunha to open the scoring, and City never recovered their footing. Former City striker Liam Delap — revelling against his old club — added two more goals to put the tie beyond doubt.

The second goal saw Iliman Ndiaye and Elliot Anderson get into a tangle, while Matheus Nunes failed to make a challenge for the third. Maresca compounded his problems at half-time by losing both Gvardiol and Marc Guehi to injury, forcing a reshuffle that pushed Nunes to right-back, brought Abdukodir Khusanov inside, and introduced Nico O'Reilly on the left.

Rayan Cherki's stunning strike offered City brief hope at 2-1, but Forest sealed the win on the counter-attack to make it 3-1.

Concerns mount over Fernandez and the defensive structure

Anderson's £116m summer move from Chelsea has yet to pay dividends in the league — he has contributed just one goal, in the Champions League win over RB Leipzig, in his last nine appearances. His midfield partnership with Enzo Fernandez has failed to click, and Anderson spent much of the evening remonstrating with referee Sam Barrott rather than influencing the game.

Former Forest winger Steve Stone, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, was blunt: "They have been exposed today. Oliver Glasner's team have played through them every time. I have never seen a City team give the ball away so much in the middle of the park."

Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy echoed those sentiments, telling BBC Sport: "They were sloppy with the ball, not winning duels. I would even go as far as saying there was probably a bit of arrogance at the start of the game. There are now some big questions to ask the manager about how he gets them back on track."

Bleak statistics and a title race in doubt

The numbers that follow City out of Nottingham make uncomfortable reading. This was their first run of three consecutive Premier League defeats since four straight losses in November–December 2024. They become only the second team in English top-flight history — after Sheffield Wednesday in 1904-05 — to win their opening seven matches and then lose the next three. It was also their first league defeat by two or more goals against a side starting the day in the relegation zone since a 2-0 loss to Bolton Wanderers in November 2008.

With Arsenal having beaten Hull earlier on Saturday to maintain a clean sheet and six-point advantage, the title picture is shifting fast. Only two clubs have been as far behind as City after 10 games and still gone on to lift the trophy: Manchester United in 2002-03, and City themselves under Manuel Pellegrini in 2013-14.

Brighton, meanwhile, have the chance to close to within five points of Arsenal — and move second — if they beat Brentford on Sunday.

Looming over everything is City's ongoing appeal against their guilty verdict for breaching Premier League financial rules. The potential sanctions remain unknown, but even setting aside that cloud, their prospects of a title charge look bleaker with each passing week.

Maresca, pacing a forlorn touchline in the closing stages, offered little in the way of reassurance post-match: "No panic. We need to understand but no panic." When pressed on why his side lacked intensity, the Italian offered a candid three words: "I need to analyse that."